Electrode.



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

KARL ADOLF VILDE, OF GLINDE, NEAR HAMBURG, GERMANY.

ELECTRODE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 700,869, dated May 27,1902.

Application filed September 22,1900. fierial No- 30,808. (No model.)

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, KARL ADOLF WILDE, a subject of the German Emperor,and a resident of Glinde, near Hamburg, in the German Empire, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrodes, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The present invention relates to certain improvements in theconstruction of electrodes preferably destined for use in secondarybatteries or accumulators, and particularly of such electrodes which aremade or produced by rolling, stamping, or casting any suitable electrodematerial, preferably lead, in the form of strips and are adapted to bearranged side by side and connected with one another by suitable meansin order to form a composite electrode-plate.

The manufacture or production of my improved electrodes is effectedaccording to my improved system of distribution of the electrodematerial, which distribution system will be described later on. Theseveral modifications of this system allow the production of electrodeswhich comply with the requirements reasonably to be made of suchelectrodes in a better manner than the electrodes hitherto in use andwhich allow also repeated re-forming.

In order that my invention may be fully understood, I shall now proceedto describe the same in detail with reference to the accompanying sheetof drawings, in which-- Figure l is a diagram illustrating thearrangement or structure of the carrier of my improved electrode. Fig. 2is a similar diagram illustrating a modification of the said structure.Fig. 3 is a side elevation of an electrode made in accordance with andembodying the present invention, and Fig. 4 is a similar elevationshowing a modification.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several figures.

The principle according to which my improved electrodes are constructedis based upon a chain structure arranged in accordance with the laws ofa single or multiplex helix. The said chain structure is formed bycrossing straight, curved, or zigzag-shaped bars or links a and b, Fig.1, at any suitable angle, so as to produce a carrier or conductingchainin which the several bars or links a and b of any suitable cross-sectionare oppositely directed to or respectively run at an angle to theworking faces of the electrode and are solidly connected with oneanother at the crossing or registering parts 6 and c, the crossing andregistering lateral ends 0 of the bars or links a and b constitutingworking heads or studs which form the above -mentioned working faces ofthe electrode. It is to be understood that by working surfaces is meantthose faces of the electrode which look upon the contrarily-polarizedadjacent electrodes. The present chain structure may also be imagined asa fiat-pressed single or double threaded fillet of a screw. From thewellknown electrodes having a rib or ribs arranged in a helical linearound a central conducting-core the improved electrode, however,dilfers in that the imagined flat-pressed thread or fillet has not thesame cross-sectional area throughout its length, but is reinforced inmaterial at that place or point which, in consequence of the imaginedfiat pressing, cross or register with one another. In an electrodehaving the bars or links arranged in the form of a double or multiplexthreaded helix the bars or links a and I) cross one another thrice orseveral times, respectively. The oppositely-directed bars or links of myimproved chain-structure electrode appear, therefore, to'be in the samearrangement with respect to one another as the crossing members or linksof a lazy-tongs, the only difference being that the said links or barsare not pivotally connected at the crossing or registering points, as inthe case of a lazytongs, but are solidly and rigidly connected at suchpoints.

When a partition or foil d, Fig. 2, is employed between the two sets ofbars or links a and b, the latter are arranged as ribs in the form of ahelical line on the flat sides of the said foil or carrier-plate d andare solidly connected at their crossing and registering points,respectively, through such carrierplate d. The chain structure of theelectrode, that is to say, the arrangement and position of the membersa, and b are not altered by such foil or carrier-plate.

The cross-sectional area of the bars or links is to be varied inaccordance with the desired superficial area and life of the electrode.

The number of crossing-points in the chain structure depends upon theascent, the length, the cross-sectional area, and the spacing distanceof the bars or ribs, respectively, whereas the ascent of the bars orribs is determined by the desired rates of the escape of the gases fromthe electrode andof the circulation or diffusion of the electrolyte.

When the chain structure is constructed according to the laws of adouble or multiplex threaded helix, the reinforced crossing points einthe middle portion of the electrode confer upon the latter additionalrigid-.

ity and strength and form therebya central longitudinal zone, whichserves as the backbone of the electrode and increases itsconductibility. 1

In carrying myinvention into practice the arrangement, dimensions, &c.,of the bars or ribs will be chosen or selected in the most cases in sucha manner that thebars or ribs cross themselves thrice, because thismodification of the chain electrode possesses the better or morereliable disposition for compensating all strains acting upon theelectrode. I

According to the example shown by Fig. 3 the crossing bars or links ofmy improved chain structure are arranged as zigzag-shaped ribs in theform of a double helix onthe flat sides of a thin carrier-plate, so thatmy improved electrode practically consists of a plate or strip (1 oflead, which is provided upon its two opposite flat sides or faces with aseries of parallel or nearly parallel zigzag-shaped'prd jections or ribsa and I). These sets of ribs are best arranged in the manner shown, sothat the ribs or their middle parts, respectively, of the one side runat an angle to the longitudinal center line of the electrode and crossthe corresponding ribs of the other side at any suitable angle. Thelateral ends or branches of the zigzag shaped ribs, which runhorizontally, or about so, register or nearly register with the lateralends of the corresponding ribs of the other side, whereby lateral headsor studs care produced, the length of which varies according to thelength of the horizontal ends of the zigzag-shaped ribs, the arrangementbeing such that the crossing zigza -shaped ribs a and I), carried by acentral comparatively thin'sheet d, are secured to but very thin foils,

I whereas the actual and reliable connection of 7 parts.

the ribs and their lateral ends is efiected by the solid coherence orunion of such ribs and lateral ends at the crossing and registeringpoints, respectively. At the crossing-points e, as well as at theregisterin -points c, of the zigzag-shaped ribs the electrode has ofcourse foil between the heads or studs 0 shall be only of such thicknessthat on producing the elec trode thesaid foils are verysoon formedthoroughly, therefrom resulting the first active layers and a workingface or faces, respectively, which are formed by the said suitablyshapedpreferably conical studs or heads, which besides a good contact give avery reliable hold to the active layers, so that the latter areprevented from crumbling and falling off, even if the electrode shouldhappen to have been subjected to a long and heavy strain,deform ationand short-circuiting being entirely avoided Withmy improved electrodebuilt up according to the above-described novel chain structure withworking heads or studs. v

In Fig. l I have shown as example an electrode of my improvedchain-structure type in which the thin lead foils between the heads orstuds 0 have been thoroughly formed or removed, respectively, by theaction of the electrolyte. v

When the improved electrode orelectrodes are to be formed according tothe Faure method-that is to-say, by pasting the thin foils between theworking heads or studs, which foils result from the the rolling orstamping processthey may be perforated or removed entirely or partiallybefore pasting the electrode. When the improved electrode or electrodesare produced by casting, the said foils may be omitted from thebeginning. Such a cast electrode has then about the appearance of theelectrode shown in Fig. 4. In such an electrode the active mass isallowed to wind in the form of serpentine line around the chainstructure and to connect or unite through the free spaces or openings insuch chain structure. The active mass is thus retained under allconditions in the most intimate contact with the chain structure,serving at the same time as carrier and conductor.

Those parts of my improved electrode which are most exposed to oxidationmay be rein- IIO forced in material at will or as required,

whereas those parts of the electrode which are not so much exposed maybe made lighter in material in accordance with the requirements of theconducting and carrying abilities of the electrode and the circulationof the electrolyte.

The advantages of the electrodes made in accordance with my new systemchiefly consist in that the parts of the electrode which serve ascarrier and conductor are evolved or constructed as screw areas, thatreinforcements in material are obtained at the cross ing or registeringpoints of the bars or ribs forming the improved chain structure, that areliable escape or delivery of the developed gases and perfectcirculation of the electrolyte are assured, and that the working facesof the electrode are formed by heads or studs. As for the electrolyticprocess that development of area is the most favorable which shows no orbut the smallest planes and straight lines. The distribution of materialin my improved electrode can be imagined as to be of absoluteperfection.

In my improved electrode, moreover, the working parts which are mostsubjected to the processes of oxidation and reduction are not able totransmit or transfer their alterations or deformations, if any, to themore central parts, which serve as the carrier and conductor.

My improved electrodes finally admit of a very reliable connection bysoldering, as the solder can penetrate or intrude into and between thechain structure or its parts, respectively.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. A flat electrode for secondary batteries comprising a carrier formedof a suitable material, provided with a substantially helical groove andan active material in said groove, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

2. An electrode-carrier composed of a suitable material and providedwith a plurality of substantially helical ribs, and lateral projectionsformed on said ribs at opposite sides of the electrode, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

3. Anelectrode-carrier composed of a suitable material and provided witha plurality of ribs arranged to form a multiplex helix, and lateralprojections at opposite sides of the electrode at each turn of thehelix, substantially'as and for the purpose set forth.

4. A flat electrode-carrier composed of a suitable material and havinginclined ribs arranged in the form of a multiplex helix, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

5. An electrode-carrier composed of ribs of a suitable material inclinedin opposite directions on opposite sides of the electrode, connected attheir crossing and lateral ends on each inclined rib, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

6. An electrode-carrier composed of ribs of a suitable material inclinedin opposite directions on opposite sides of the carrier, a plate betweenthe series of ribs, said ribs and plate connected at theircrossing-points and lateral ends on each inclined rib, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

7. An electrode-carrier comprising a plate, inclined ribs on one sidethereof inclined in one direction and similar ribs on the opposite sideinclined in an opposite direction, and lateral ends on each inclinedrib, the plate being cut away between said ends, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

KARL ADOLF WILDE.

. Witnesses:

MAX LEMCKE, E. H. L. MUMMENHOFF.

